He said: “The Sei whale that was found stranded was incredibly rare in this part of the world.

“This is quite a young individual, so the likelihood is that it would still have been attended by its mother.

“This is a deep open ocean species, so I suspect the young one has become separated from the mother somehow and has made its way into shallow water.

“It was clearly completely disorientated - some of the locals were describing to me that it was swimming round and round in tight circles.

“Unfortunately, it was also a falling tide so really by the time that it’s stranded in the condition we see it in now, there’s absolutely nothing we can do.”

Mick O’Connell, strandings officer with the Irish Whale and Dolphin Group, said earlier this month that the increase in strandings around the Irish coast in recent years is ‘truly shocking’.

He said: “Looking at the numbers of cetacean strandings over the last few years, I do find the facts ringing alarm bells, and the worst part is not knowing what is, or are, the reasons for the changes.”